To Forget and to Hunt
by royalstandard
Summary: Brooke Davis has recently awoken from a car accident where she suffered from head trauma and was in a coma for three days. She wakes up to a world that no longer remembers the two mass murderers she's been researching for the past six months.


Much had changed in Brooke's life since she'd graduated high school. She'd become a celebrity in just five short years, she'd created one of the most ravagingly popular fashion lines in the world, and she'd gotten engaged to none other than Lucas Scott. Who would've guessed it? That night he'd run to her when Peyton had turned him down in California had started it all. At first, they'd just gone out as friends with her wearing the engagement ring he'd intended for Peyton, pretending to be his fiancée so they could get free booze at every restaurant they went to. He'd cried on her shoulder, and then he'd kissed her when he'd been drunk that night. At first, she'd turned him away - she didn't want him if he just wanted her as a drunken rebound off of the girl he'd loved off and on for years, she was too strong of a woman for that - but Lucas hadn't relented. She'd believed he'd just run back to his hole, or go after Peyton again, but he'd stayed in New York, gotten his own loft on the Lower East Side, and they'd bonded. They'd always been friends, but this was different. They could be honest with one another in a way they never had been as kids, and he'd respected her as the powerful woman she was becoming just as she respected him as the popular author he turned into.

The rumors began before the romance actually did. Brooke had always loved Lucas more than any other man she'd ever been with, and they'd been close friends even when they weren't dating. When she looked in his eyes, she always remembered the nights of passionate abandon they'd shared in high school, but she would never bring it up. However, as they spent more and more time around one another, the press couldn't ignore them forever. Wildly popular celebrities never go unnoticed, and Brooke Davis and Lucas Scott were at the top of that list. Whether they went out for a casual lunch at 'inoteca on the Lower East Side or a fancy, expensive dinner between friends at Nello in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the Upper East Side, the paparazzi watched them and chronicled their every move. Stories about "Brooke Davis's new beau!" and "Lucas Scott pens a beauty!" began popping up in the gossip columns, and it wasn't long before the two had to admit they were beginning to enjoy one another's company more than simply friends. After several months of this 'friendship', Lucas finally admitted he still had feelings for her, and after assuring her that she had always been the one his heart truly loved, Brooke admitted that she still loved him as well. She always would. Lucas had been her first 'true love', and that was special to her although she was the type of woman who would never admit something so sentimental.

As she stepped into their shared loft on Fifth Avenue, Brooke smiled to herself and sighed quietly. It was peaceful yet exciting with a room for Lucas to do his writing on his second novel and her own studio for designing and sewing. She also had a room for writing since her fashion line had gone under. She missed it, hence the studio she refused to get rid of, but she did love her new job. Lucas had gotten her interested in writing (since she'd never been the academic type in school), and she'd worked hard and fast and become a reporter for Good Morning New York, a morning news show. Always having loved being in the know, Brooke thrived in the environment, and finally, she had common standing ground with Lucas. They worked on stories together sometimes, and they would spend hours sitting and writing their separate pieces and smiling occasionally at one another over their papers.

This time, as she entered her home, however, she wasn't greeted with the peaceful hum of her shared life with Lucas. Instead, her breath was taken away as the lights flicked on and a crowd of voices yelled, "SURPRISE!" True surprise spread over her face, and she laughed her tinkling laugh as she recognized the faces of many of her friends, both old and new, clustered in her living room beneath a massive banner which read, "Welcome Home!". Turning to glance behind her at Lucas's face, she saw him smiling knowingly as he leaned over and kissed her on her cheek. "Welcome home, Pretty Girl," he whispered in her ear as she turned back to smile at their friends.

"Wow, guys! This is amazing!" she exclaimed, to the pleased cheering of her friends. She was instantly swallowed by the crowd, people handing her welcome home presents and Jamie latching on to her waist followed by Haley's 'mom' voice ordering him to 'release Aunt Brooke because she just got released from the hospital and can't carry your weight as well as her own'. Although it wasn't true, and she loved Jamie's affection, she smiled apologetically down at the little man, patted his back, and then greeted her other guests.

When she was being released from the hospital, the doctor informed her she would probably suffer some mild memory loss following the accident. The accident she still couldn't recall all of the details from. The accident that had put her into a three day coma and scared her family and friends half to death. They told her it was a car accident. She rarely drove anymore since New York was so closely packed and there were taxis for any longer trips she needed to take, but from what little she could remember, she'd decided to take a ride out to the countryside for one of the stories she'd been working on.


End file.
